Chinese woman slipped through biometric identification checks+
TOKYO, June 17 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A Chinese woman arrested on suspicion of robbery has been found to have entered Japan unlawfully after changing her fingerprints to slip through airport biometric identification checks, investigative sources said Thursday. Lin Xiuai, 33, a resident of Yokohama, has told police investigators that she underwent a surgical operation to change her fingerprints at a clinic in China's Fujian Province for about 30,000 yen, the sources said.
Tokyo police arrested Lin and four other Chinese nationals in January, including Lin Guizhen, 41, who runs a bar in Tokyo, for allegedly liquoring up a customer at the bar and stealing a credit card.
Lin Xiuai, who used a false name at the time of her arrest, was found to have changed the spiral patterns on her forefingers.
She was previously sent back to China after being arrested in Fukushima Prefecture in 2001 on suspicion of entering Japan unlawfully.
She apparently underwent the operation after returning to China and has passed through immigration checks while repeatedly entering and leaving Japan since March 2002, the sources said.
The police recently served a fresh arrest warrant on Lin over a similar robbery at the bar, after serving a warrant on suspicion of illegally staying in Japan.